Doñana water recovery 'fragile and temporary' despite recent rainfall, warns SEO/BirdLife

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Bird census hits 385,000 in Spain’s iconic wetland, but structural threats from illegal irrigation and climate change persist

José Luis Piedra

Friday, 27 March 2026, 14:47

The ornithological organisation SEO/BirdLife said on Thursday that the water recovery in Doñana is "fragile and temporary" after the latest rainfall in this natural park.

The organisation believes that this temporary improvement, with the flooding of the marshes and the availability of habitat for breeding waterfowl, only provides continuity to the past hydrological year 2024/2025, which, with 671 mm, ended the driest 13-year period experienced by Doñana since 1970.

Carlos Dávila, head of the national park for SEO/BirdLife, said, "Doñana is a paradigmatic example of the relationship between climate, biodiversity and the socio-economic model, and together with climate change there are still unresolved structural problems that multiply its negative effects."

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"The conservation of Doñana cannot be separated from adaptation to climate change, and protecting this area is also a commitment to a more resilient model, which guarantees water, slowing the loss of biodiversity and preventing extinction processes," he added.

The biological indicators reflect an improvement associated with the flooding of the marsh and in the last census carried out in January, 385,649 birds of 88 species were counted, the best data in recent years, although still far from the historical maximums.